Twas the Night
by Whitelighter Enchantress
Summary: A holiday tale of romance, the spirit of Christmas, and ducks. A Lily Smith challenge fic.


'Twas the Night

by Whitelighter Enchantress

A/n: This is a Lily Smith Challenge fic. It had a bunch of crazy requirements… Um, I think you'll figure some of them out on your own. But I guess there's a contest of all the challenge entries and if you like this one you can vote in a review for Lily Smith's story, also titled 'Twas the Night.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and I most certainly do not.

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"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse," Sirius Black read to four Hogwarts students relaxing in the warmth of the Gryffindor Common Room upon the eve of Christmas. "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

Harry Potter readjusted his glasses and snuggled against the back of a large red armchair. Now in his seventh and final year in Hogwarts, he was a tall, strapping lad of seventeen years. He zoned out from the story, thinking instead about the story-teller. It had taken all of sixth year to resurrect Sirius and clear him of his wrongly convicted crime, which they miraculously did. Huh. Who'd a thunk?

"When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, with a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick."

Harry glanced about the Christmas decorated room to his friends sitting beside him. There sat Ron Weasley, his best friend, Hermione Granger, his other best friend, and Ginny Weasley, his crush. Something had happened over sixth year that made Harry noticed her more. Nothing had changed, really, but they began to spend more time together. And that time pleased Harry. Quite a bit.

"And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my hand, and was turning around, down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound."

Even with the return of Sirius, and his developing relationship with Ginny, there was something… redundant about this Christmas. It seemed that every Christmas was the same, year after year. How many more socks? How many more sweaters? How many more Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? He eyed the green and red decorations that had been used each year and sighed. Somehow he knew the others felt the same way.

"But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!'" Sirius closed the book, setting it on the floor.

Ginny lifted her head from its resting place in her hand. "Is Santa Claus real in the Muggle world?" she asked innocently.

"No," Harry replied, "parents made him up so their children will be good."

Hermione straightened in her chair. "I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_."

"Um, no… You didn't." Harry furrowed his brow at her.

"Methinks Muggle men make up mental myths," Ron decided, sliding further into his seat.

"Well, I think it makes Christmas more fun," Harry added slightly defiantly.

Sirius shook his head at Ron. "If the story was true, it'd make Christmas less blue. And Santa is fun, kids think he's number one."

Now it was Ginny's turn to furrow her brow. "Why the hell are you rhyming?"

"The book got me hooked, what can I say?" he shrugged. "Now I feel like rhyming all day!"

"I concur, Christmas can be colorless 'cause each Christmas is consistently changeless," said Ron, apparently ignoring Sirius's bout of rhyming.

"I think he means Christmas is boring year after year," Ginny interpreted. "I mean, we eat the same Christmas supper, get the same presents from Mum…"

Sirius's face lit up like a bong on a Friday night in somebody's garage. "By Jove, I've just got the most splendid idea!" Harry tried to cut him off, but Sirius continued too quickly. "And I swear it has nothing to do with a marshmallow tortilla." Well, that satisfied Harry, considering that last idea did not go over so well. Sirius bolted upright from his chair and left the room in maniacal rhyming laughter.

"Uh oh, that's never a good sign."

"Did you see the crazy look on his face? I think he may have started muttering things to himself as he exited." Ginny looked genuinely worried, Harry thought she looked cute.

Ron stood up. "This predicament portrays poorly planned plots; I proclaim pursuance of the problem."

"Like, spy on Sirius?" Harry asked, unclear of the unnecessary alliteration. Ron nodded. "Okay! Ron, why don't you come with me. Ginny, go with Hermione and search the lower floors, we'll take the upper ones. Ready? Let's go."

The two groups soon departed ways at the staircase, the girls heading down and the boys heading up. Harry had truly wanted to go with Ginny, and saw that she wanted to as well, but he was not yet ready to be alone with her. What would he say? What would he do? How exactly should he give her the present he bought for her? He fingered his pocket, yup, it was still there. Thank God.

Harry and Ron made their way to the kitchen, and Dobby quickly greeted them inside. "Dobby wished Harry Potter a happy Christmas! And to Ron Weasley too!"

"Happy Christmas to you too, Dobby."

"I can check the kitchen for the crazy crook," Ron said, edging away from the house elf.

"Okay, you do that."

Dobby's eyes followed Ron as he moved away. When he was out of sight, Dobby said, "Dobby has a present for Harry Potter! Dobby be a good elf and go fetch it," He scurried away, and Harry allowed his eyes to wander about the kitchen. Some elves had already started in preparing their Christmas breakfast, but most were relaxing. He spied a female elf pouting her lips at him and raising her eyebrows suggestively. Just as she began to lick her lips slowly Harry turned and faced his back to her.

Luckily, Ron returned at that time. "Alas, an absolute absences of Aragorn."

"Hey, just because he's all dark and shady–"

"Harry Potter, Harry Potter! Dobby gives Harry Potter his gift!"

An oddly wrapped gift fell into Harry's hands. Ron muttered, "Peculiar parcel…" as he tore the paper from the outside. Dobby had given him a single orange and yellow striped sock.

"Oh, Dobby, It's, um…" he was speechless. What does one say when there's nothing to say? "Er… Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?" Ron questioned. "Splendid!"

Dobby looked extremely happy, and his eyes nearly welled with tears. "Harry Potter would give Dobby his present now?"

"Y-your present? Okay, it's um…" Harry frantically searched his pockets, however, the only thing he pulled out was Ginny's present: a beautiful gold ring that glowed like fire in the light.

Dobby swiped the ring out of Harry's hand. "Harry Potter, this ring is so… so…" His eyes widened, and his voice turned dark. "_Precious_…"

"No, see, Dobby," he explained, reaching out for the ring, "I was going to give that to Gin–"

"My precious… We mustn't give it back. But Dobby good house elf; Dobby like Master Potter. The precious is out master now!"

As Dobby continued to fight with himself in two different voices, Harry said, "What an uncanny parallel to Lord of the Rings."

Suddenly, Ron let out a war cry and jumped on Dobby, wrestling him for The Precious. He struggled to speak as he fought. "Precious… probably… powerful!"

Harry rolled his eyes. Great. How the hell was he supposed to get her ring back now? He stared at the two rolling about on the ground, and at first resisted the urge to join them. But soon he could resist no longer, and he dove into action.

Meanwhile, in the dungeons with the girls…

Ginny leaned against one of the thick, stone walls and sighed. "I haven't heard anyone else down here. Have you?" Hermione shook her head. _What a wonderful help she is_, Ginny thought, _she's barely spoken seven words_. Why didn't Harry want to go search the castle with her? Did he perhaps not feel for her as she felt for him?

She cast her eyes up from the floor, pondering Harry a while longer. She suddenly noticed a wooden door that she would have sworn hadn't been there earlier. "Hey, where'd that door come from? I've never noticed it before." She stepped forward, gripping the knob and twisting, but it was locked. "Alohomora," she muttered, pointing her wand at it. However, it still did not budge.

Hermione stepped forward and nudged Ginny aside. She then twirled in a circle and pretended to sword fight the door for a few seconds. Abruptly, she stopped, and the door creaked open.

"Whoa!" Ginny exclaimed.

Hermione shrugged as if it was nothing. "I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_."

"Cool." Ginny pushed the door open and slid inside, followed by Hermione. They walked in and found themselves in a room completely filled with ducks. "Hermione, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_?

"No, I was thinking we could–"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Both girls looked back into the hallway as Harry ran by screaming and holding something in his outstretched fist, and a moment later, he was quickly followed by a vicious looking Dobby and flushed Ron. The girls paused for a moment, and stared at each other in confusion. They then bolted from the room after them.

They all failed to notice, however, the dark, cloaked figure in the corner, which was pretty strange, considering he was kind of tall, and the hallways weren't _that_ dark–

"Hey you stupid narrator, that wasn't nice. I could take you down like a fat man with fried rice."

The cloaked figure ruined the mood of the scene.

"Scene, shmene."

Jeez, I'm sorry!

"Sorry, shmorry."

All right, all right. The cloaked, and, might I add, devilishly handsome figure– "Ah, so true, you stupid poo." –crept forward and peered into the room. His eyes widened with delight. "And _this_ will most certainly do…"

– – – – – – –

Harry hid silently behind a suit of armor, attempting to catch his breath, praying that the "power of the ring" would not draw Dobby nearer to his precious. It was obviously Harry's precious! Er… to give to Ginny. Right. Stupid redheads…

"Hark, Harry!" Ron hailed. "Hello. We constrained the crazy critter in a closet."

"Thank God. Where are Hermione and Ginny?" Ron shrugged and helped Harry get out from behind the armor just as the girls rounded the corner.

"What on earth happened to Dobby?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Harry lied. "He just went crazy all of a sudden."

"I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_!" Hermione exclaimed, opening her mouth to explain further.

Harry cut her off. "No, I think it was something else." Hermione shrugged it off.

Ginny seemed content. "Well, let's keep looking for Sirius. He has to be around here somewhere." They walked around all together for about an hour more, finally ending up back in the Gryffindor Common Room. "What time is it?" Ginny asked sleepily.

Harry yawned. "Almost midnight."

"I read that… in _Hogwarts, A… History_…"

"Hermione must be really tired, she's getting delirious. Maybe we should all just go to sleep."

"Good idea. Besides, I haven't heard ay weird noises, so he probably fell asleep in a random place again." She smiled at him, and Harry wanted to kiss her. But, ugh, Ron was right there, it would be uncomfortable, and it was late, and… It– just– um... Harry quickly smiled and hurried upstairs, Ron followed. Ginny sighed and disappointedly headed back up to her dormitory with Hermione.

One minute later…

Four pairs of feet rushed down the stairs and back into the Common Room. "Are all your presents gone too!?" Harry asked. Hermione and Ginny nodded furiously.

They heard the entrance open and expected to find Sirius waltzing through unsuspectingly, but it was Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore who entered.

Professor McGonagall looked at them under a furrowed brow. "Quicks all come the was had cut through ducks… Es_ca_pay!"

Everyone stared at her blankly. "I believe she means all the ducks have escaped." Dumbledore leaned in towards the students. "Too many holiday butterbeers."

"What ducks?" Harry asked.

"We have ducks," McGonagall said, apparently over her little drunken spell, "and somehow, they all got out."

"Oh no!" cried Ginny. "We forgot to close the door, it's all our fault!"

Dumbledore smiled at her knowingly. "No, it wasn't. There's a charm on that room so they cannot get out unless someone gives them mass quantities of cheesy puffs."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Cheesy puffs?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Cheesy puffs."

"I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_," Hermione added with a smug smile.

Everyone ignored crazy reading girl. "Then where are they?" asked Ginny.

"Outside. Come look."

The professors lead the four students through the castle and outside. They all looked up to see Sirius on the roof with a herd of ducks, trying to get them to pull something. "Listen to Wormtoe, he knows what's best, listen to me and do not attest. Okay, little duckies, time to get tough, and I promise I'll give you another cheesy puff!" The ducks did not comply. He huffed in exasperation and disappeared over the other side of the roof.

Everyone headed back inside. "I wonder what wacky workings he's done," said Ron.

"Why was he calling himself Wormtoe?" Ginny asked.

"Because bad boys belong to wormy brands," her brother responded.

"Such as Wormtail, or Wormtongue," Dumbledore offered.

Ginny shook her head. "But Sirius isn't a bad guy!"

"He obviously thinks so," Harry muttered.

He noticed Dumbledore gleaming at him. "What do you think we should do, Harry?"

Harry thought for a while. What could Sirius want with a bunch of ducks? Hmm, ducks are rather pleasing. Better question: What could Sirius want a bunch of ducks to pull? "Okay. You all make a diversion on the ground; try to catch his attention. I'll sneak up on the roof and see what he has up there."

Professor McGonagall seemed to have acquired another mug of butterbeer. She turned to Dumbledore. "Got any better ideas, Gandalf?"

"I beg your pardon, Minerva–"

"Sounds like a good plan, Harry," Ginny said quickly. "Why don't I walk you outside?" She latched onto his arm and pulled him out the door, leaving the others to their own devices.

They walked outside in an awkward silence, staying near to the wall so Sirius did not notice them. Harry noticed that Ginny was shivering, and he wrapped his arm around her for warmth. "Harry," she began as they approached the Owlery. They stopped, and Ginny turned to face him, his arm still draped around her in a sort of half hug. He felt as if she had something important to confess. Could it finally be…? "I… Be careful."

Harry's shoulders sunk. "I will. I'll wave to you guys or something to start diverting." She nodded, and pulled away to return to the others, but paused, instead leaning in to kiss Harry's cheek before scurrying away.

He suddenly felt a surge of energy pump through him. Maybe she did feel that way after all… He stepped into the Owlery, taking note that Buckbeak was missing from his stall. Did it matter? No. Because Ginny's lips had just graced his cheek.

So after that annoying cornfest, Harry continued his way up the stairs. He mumbled something about rude narrators, and proceeded to– Oh. Ahem, so after that cute moment of fluffiness (better?), Harry reached the highest window. He hopped onto the ledge and saw Ginny and the others waiting by the door. Waving his arms, they let out loud yells and started an Indian rain dance. Harry pulled himself onto the roof and snuck over the snowy top in Sirius's direction.

As he neared, he began to see something big in the distance. Something very big. Gargantuan, really. Was that Buckbeak? Was that Buckbeak attached to a sleigh!? Harry concluded with each step closer to the mysterious and large object that it was. Now he knew what he wanted the ducks to pull; all of which were gone, but a few cheesy puffs remained on the roof.

Sirius was too occupied to take notice of the approaching spy while he watched the little Indians dancing beneath him. Harry kept an eye on his godfather, however, and edged his way closer, careful not to make a sound. Balancing on the balls of his feet, he saw that inside the sleigh were all their stolen presents!

He suddenly lunged towards the sleigh, but before he reached it, Buckbeak howled and pulled away from him, knocking Harry aside. Sirius hopped into the sleigh and flew into the night sky as Harry struggled for balance. He slid down the rest of the roof, but was unable to catch his fingers on the edge, and he quickly became airborne.

The cold air stung Harry's face as he tumbled to earth, only to find soft feathers to catch him half way; Fawkes had swooped down out of nowhere to save him miraculously.

On the ground, Professor McGonagall marked, "Hey, that looked just like when Gwaihir saved Frodo."

"I read that in _Hogwarts, A History_."

"Or _Lord of the Rings_, you retard," Ginny scoffed, thankful Harry was now safe. "Come on, they're flying towards the lake!"

Back in the air, Harry and Fawkes chased after Sirius and Buckbeak. "Sirius!" Harry yelled in a deep, manly, un-pubescent voice. "What are you doing!?"

"Ron thought Santa was confusing, but I myself found him amusing!" he hollered back. "You all thought Christmas was getting boring, so I thought I'd change it up by soaring."

"Sirius, get back on the ground and give us back our presents; you're going to hurt yourself."

"Go faster and faster, fly, Beaky, fly! We have a bit of a Scrooge nearby." Buckbeak took off much too fast for Fawkes, and they slowly returned to the others on land. They all gazed up in fright as Sirius flew rapidly around the lake. And one sharp corner later, the sleigh flew out of control. The sleigh tipped over and cracked in half, unlatching Buckbeak from his harness, and Sirius, the sleigh, and all the presents fell into the lake.

Sirius began to swim towards shore. "Don't worry, everyone, I'm okay! Though there isn't much I can say about the sleigh…" He stood up on the ground and shook the water from him like a dog. Everyone stared at him sternly, yet he smiled back sheepishly.

Dumbledore rocked back and forth on his toes. "Well, I hope you learned your lesson."

Sirius nodded. "Never listen to complaining teens, or else you'll end up with soggy jeans." Dumbledore shook his head, wrong lesson. "Don't steal the ducks because they won't listen and it sucks?" Hmm, imagine that, another wrong lesson. "I won't take anyone's presents ever again; Christmas is about the tradition of love and giving, amen." After a pause, everyone smiled at Sirius and surrounded him in a group hug. After all, he was only trying to make this Christmas a bit more exciting than usual, 'twas the night indeed.

Everyone walked closer to the water, hopeful of retrieving his or her presents. Harry, Ginny, and Ron lagged behind. "I got really scared when you started to fall," Ginny mentioned, her hand "accidentally" bumping against his.

Now was the time, Harry knew. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ginny, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

They stopped walking, and Harry gathered courage and took her hands into his. "Ginny, I'm… Crazy for you." In response, Ginny leaned in and kissed him, the best response Harry could have asked for.

Ron elbowed Harry in the side when they pulled away. "The ring, you ridiculous Romeo."

He shoved his hand into his pocket and dug until he found it. Luckily, it hadn't fallen out during his flight. He held it up to the moonlight then handed it to her. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, Harry," she whispered, slipping the ring onto her finger and hugging him.

Yes, this night had been a crazy one, but one filled with love, the spirit of giving, and, er… Ducks. Sirius shifted his gaze back and watched Ginny and Harry together. His plan _had_ been successful; it turned out. And after they fished the presents out of the lake, they all had hot chocolate.

Fin.

A/n: So what did you think? ¿Te gustaba? Please review and tell me what you thought! And if you think this is worthy of a vote, please go to Lily's Smith's story (also titled 'Twas the Night) and say so in a review! Thank you and Merry Christmas!

–Whitelighter Enchantress


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